Close-up side view of the church
entrance

The Catholic Church in Oradour, is known simply as, Eglise
d,Oradour-sur-Glane (The church of Oradour-sur-Glane),
for unlike in the UK and most English speaking countries it is not usual for parish
churches to be named after saints, instead they are simply
referred to as, 'The church of
xxxxx'. After the fire, French rescue workers found an almost
undamaged statue of Saint
Bernadette (of Lourds) in the ruins and this is now housed in the Catholic
Church of the new village. The original
church is built out of granite and dates from the 15th century. The steeple was a later
addition from the 16th century. It was through the doorway on the right that all the women
and children entered the church on 10th June 1944.

The plaque behind the Cross reads: Silence.
The hundreds of women and children here were massacred by the Nazis. You that pass collect
yourselves and who that believe make a prayer for the victims and their families. In the
town remaining in lonely ruins outside the Cross of Christ. Bernadette our Lady of
Lourdes. Come to me you that suffer says the Christ, do that he tells you says the Virgin.
Requiescat in pace. That they rest in peace. Because they are living in eternity.